MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

7/12 Extra bases

* The Cubs have utilized six rookie pitchers this season who have combined to post a 2.23 ERA (23 ER/92 1/3 IP) in 79 games (four starts) with three saves and 21 holds. The list includes Dallas Beeler, Kyle Hendricks, Neil Ramirez, Zac Rosscup, Brian Schlitter and Tsuyoshi Wada.

* Last Thursday, the Cubs completed a stretch in which three starting pitchers (Beeler, Wada and Hendricks) made their Major league debut in a 13-day stretch starting June 28. According to Elias, it was the first time the Cubs had three starting pitchers make their big league debut in a 13-day span or less for the first time since 1948, when Bob Rush (April 22), Cliff Chambers (April 24) and Dutch McCall (April 27) did so in a six-day span.

* Kris Bryant is on the U.S. roster and Javier Baez is on the World roster for the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on Sunday at Target Field. Both Bryant and Baez play for Triple-A Iowa.

* With two games remaining prior to the All-Star break, the Cubs have a 3.70 team ERA (341 ER/828 2/3 IP). The Cubs last had a lower ERA heading into the break in 1992 when they sported a 3.16 ERA. Last season, the Cubs had a 3.94 ERA at the All-Star break.

* The Cubs are 15-27 in games decided by two runs or less this season. Those 42 close games represent about 46 percent of the games the Cubs have played this year, as the club is 25-25 in 50 games decided by three runs or more.

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